Breaking overnight: Monarch Airlines, Britain’s fifth-largest carrier, has ceased trading. All future flights have been canceled, with customers due to fly told not to go to the airport. The Civil Aviation Authority will charter planes to bring home the 110,000 Brits stranded overseas. Latest from the department for transport.

Good Monday morning from Manchester, where the Conservative Party is holding its annual conference.

DRIVING THE DAY

BIGMOUTH STRIKES AGAIN: The chancellor delivers his big conference speech at lunchtime today. The prime minister gave her centerpiece BBC Marr Show interview yesterday. A raft of domestic policies have already been unveiled. But here in Manchester there is only one topic of conversation — Boris Johnson.

Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before: Boris’ “Brexit red lines” interview with the Sun at the weekend has eclipsed the conference so far, just as his 4,000-word Daily Telegraph article overshadowed the week leading up to the PM’s Florence speech. Boris — and the backlash against him — makes the front pages of the Times, the Guardian, the Mail, the FT, the Sun and the ‘i’ this morning. Even the Metro splashes on Tory disunity.

This charming man: Boris responds, also via the Telegraph — “I think actually if you studied what I said, it was basically government policy. I think it’s extraordinary that so much fuss has been made about repeating government policy, but there you go.”

That joke isn’t funny anymore: Nicky Morgan spelled out the view of many MPs on BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour last night: “If he can’t keep schtum about his own views, if he can’t give up the oxygen of publicity — because he will be delighted by the fact everyone is talking about him now — if he can’t stop setting down arbitrary red lines, then he has to go.”

Please please please let me get what I want: But Boris has a fresh demand in today’s Sun — he’d like control of the department for international development as well as the foreign office. “We now have double-hatted ministers, and are basically trying to bring the foreign office and DfID back together,” he tells Political Editor Tom Newton Dunn.

Hand in glove: In an unrelated matter, Theresa May was last night busy delivering a very public show of unity with grassroots darling Ruth Davidson at the Scottish Tory reception. May held Davidson’s arm aloft and cheered: “Together we saved the union.” Earlier Davidson had protested she does not want to get involved in a ‘Tory psychodrama.” Good luck with that.

TODAY IN BREXIT

SCOOP — WHAT BORIS IS WORRYING ABOUT: Theresa May is leaning towards Philip Hammond’s preferred Brexit model, several senior officials have told POLITICO’s Tom McTague. They say “the row of the autumn” inside cabinet is on the “end-state” — the shape of Britain’s relationship with Europe after Brexit. McTague reports that May currently favors her chancellor’s model of maintaining close regulatory alignment with the EU for many years after Brexit, to ensure frictionless trade continues. Officials have warned her it could take decades to recreate the benefits of trade with Europe by striking new deals with other countries.

What May is worrying about: A senior figure from the previous administration tells McTague that May’s final decision on the “end state” will be the “moment of maximum danger” for her own leadership. Hammond and Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood are demanding a decision as soon as possible. Watch this space.

Off message: One of Johnson’s own foreign office ministers called for “realism” last night and warned the EU is in the driving seat over Brexit. Speaking at a Chatham House fringe event chaired by Playbook, Alistair Burt said: “We spend all our time at the moment deciding what our position should be. It’s not nearly as important as the position of 27 other states, and the position of the EU.”

In better news: The Mail has received an upbeat briefing from a senior member of the government that trade talks with Brussels will be underway before Christmas. Political Editor Jason Groves quotes his source as saying: “The mood on Brexit is much more positive than the public pronouncements you hear, particularly from the European Commission. There is a growing sense of people feeling a bit more momentum and wanting to get on to looking at the future partnership.”

MEANWHILE IN CATALONIA

THE RESULT: After a day of violence and anger in Catalonia, the regional government declared the result of its referendum in the early hours of this morning. Around 90 percent of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted said Yes to independence. POLITICO’s Diego Torres reports.

The takeaways: Torres sets out five takeaways from an extraordinary 24 hours. His conclusion: this was an extremely bad day for Mariano Rajoy.

The difficulties: Boris Johnson — yes, him again — is under fire from Labour, the SNP and the Lib Dems for his refusal to condemn images of police brutality which feature heavily on front pages across the Continent this morning. He tells the Telegraph: “Obviously we are very anxious about any violence. We hope that things will sort themselves out, though clearly you have to be sensitive to the constitutional proprieties. As I understand it, the referendum is not legal, so there are difficulties.”

TODAY IN MANCHESTER

CONFERENCE BIBLE: POLITICO’s Annabelle Dickson has pulled together a handy guide to what to watch in Manchester, whether you’re looking for the best parties or watching from afar. Keep it close.

HAMMOND TIME: Today is supposed to be Philip Hammond’s day, with his conference speech at lunchtime preceded by a full broadcast media round. His big announcement is a £400 million investment package for rail and road schemes across the North of England. The BBC has a write-up here.

Just capital: Hammond will also echo Theresa May in making a full-throated defense of capitalism, in response to the surge in support for Jeremy Corby’s own brand of socialism. It follows yesterday’s policy announcements on housing and on student loans — both clearly a response to Labour.

Not impressed: May’s former Director of Comms Katie Perrior, who writes in the Times that boosting Help to Buy “does a good job of making housebuilders richer and assisting the middle classes to buy £500,000 flats.”

Also not impressed: A senior member of Jeremy Corbyn’s team texts Playbook — “How is not raising tuition fees a big announcement? We are setting the political debate and they have nothing to offer.”

UNCORK THE GAUKE: In his own speech today, Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke will face down rebel Tory MPs who are urging a “pause” in the roll-out of Universal Credit. The Guardian’s Jess Elgot has the story.

PICK OF THE FRINGE

Breakfast at Greg’s: Business Secretary Greg Clark is on the panel for a discussion on Brexit and Energy (8.a.m., London Lounge).

Mogg-watch: Jacob Rees-Mogg speaks at a Bruges Group discussion on the opportunities of Brexit (1 p.m., Manchester Town Hall), and at a Leave Means Leave event with Owen Paterson (4:30 p.m., Radisson Blu).

Spreadsheet Phil: Chancellor Philip Hammond is the star guest at a CBI fringe on the future for U.K. business. (5:30 p.m., Midland Hotel).

JUST DOWN THE ROAD: Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell is in conversation with Guardian columnist Gary Younge at the People’s Assembly anti-austerity festival. Tickets are free (Manchester Cathedral, 7 p.m.).

CONFERENCE FOOTBALL: The Lobby XI are today basking in the glory of a successful conference season after defeating the Tories 2-1 yesterday. The Press Association’s Richard Wheeler bagged the winner after a sensational free kick from the Sun’s Alain Tolhurst came back off the crossbar. Tory skipper Guy Opperman MP vowed revenge next year — while admitting there may be “fewer MPs” on show.

ICYMI IN MANCHESTER LAST NIGHT

Spotted: Environment Minister and lifelong Kopite Therese Coffey sipping pints at the Premier League drinks bash at the Ape and Apple pub round the corner from the conference as her beloved Liverpool F.C. stumbled to another draw.

Sing-song: Tory activists sang happy birthday to Theresa May at the Conservative Home / 1922 party last night as her husband Philip and half the cabinet looked on. She got the same treatment at the Scottish Tory reception earlier in the evening. Earlier her staff presented her with a low-sugar cake — May is diabetic — decorated with a leopard print shoe.

Sorry about that: Speaking at a Women2Win reception, May apologized to female MPs who lost their seats at the general election. She was also accompanied by her husband Philip and Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

Patriot games: International Trade Secretary Liam Fox attacked the BBC and the Financial Times for not being positive about Brexit. “It just seems to me a bit bizarre that people would want to talk down our own chances of success,” he told a fringe event. Buzzfeed reports.

PICK OF TODAY’S COMMENTARY

Key line: “Her inability to set out a vision that inspires people is killing her government.”

Tweaking its retail offer to voters will not save the Tory Party, writes Matthew D’Ancona in the Guardian.

Key line: “The identity of May’s successor is a secondary issue compared with the greater crisis that she and her party face.”

BEYOND THE M25

From Brussels

PRESIDENT MUTTI: Jean-Claude Juncker “would have nothing against” Angela Merkel taking over as EU Commission President in 2019 if she fancied the job, he tells Bild in an interview published this morning. Juncker was also asked what he thinks of British cartoonists who always portray him with a large glass of wine. “I do not feel that the cartoons, or particularly the articles, do me justice,” he replied.

DON V REX: Donald Trump undercut his own Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last night by publicly dismissing his attempts to broker peace with North Korea as a waste of time. Twitter was the president’s medium of choice. Peter Baker and David E. Sanger report for the New York Times.

LONDON CALLING

Opening in the West End: “Oslo,” the critically acclaimed play about two Norwegian diplomats who helped orchestrate the 1993 Oslo peace accords, opens at the Harold Pinter Theatre on Panton Street tonight. Tickets are on sale here, and the play runs until December 30. Playbook will get down there once conference season is out of the way.

New starts: Sir Ian Burnett will be sworn in today as the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, at 59 the youngest person to hold the position of Britain’s most senior judge in more than half a century. He succeeds the retiring Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd.

More courtroom drama: Baroness Hale of Richmond is also sworn in today, as the new president of the Supreme Court. She succeeds Lord Neuberger and becomes the first woman ever to hold the role. She is state-educated, hails from Yorkshire, and her real name’s Brenda. There’s a bio here. Her deputy will be Lord Mance — best known as the father of FT lobby hack Henry. Three more senior judges — Lady Justice Black, Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Lord Justice Briggs — also join the Supreme Court today.

Starting next year: Matthew Rycroft, the U.K.’s permanent representative to the United Nations, has been announced as the new permanent secretary at the Department for International Development. He takes up the role in January.

Farewell: POLITICO’s ace White House reporter Tara Palmeri — well-known on this side of the Atlantic for her stint in Brussels — is off to the world of television as a political reporter for ABC News. Very best of luck.

More double-length tweeters: Former Corbyn spinner Matt Zarb-Cousin … Wikileaks fugitive Julian Assange … A Twitter official told Playbook last night the 280-character tweet capacity has been handed out on an “entirely random” basis to 5 percent of users worldwide.